Nevada's Sesquicentennial

October 31, 1864 - October 31, 2014

Nevada is celebrating the 150th year of its statehood.

Throughout its history, even before it became a state, Nevada was known for its gold and silver. The Comstock Lode was the site of one of the richest precious metals discovery in history. Gold and silver from the Comstock Mining District attracted thousands of people from throughout the world, opening the door to Nevada becoming a state in 1864. The wealth it produced helped build San Francisco and the California Bay Area, it helped stabilize the Union economy while fighting during the Civil War, and it influenced monetary policy as far away as Prussia. And the technology invented and tested on the Comstock shaped the mining industry internationally for the next hundred years.

To honor Nevada's sesquicentennial Comstock Mining Inc. and the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture hosted a Special Reception at the newly renovated Gold Hill Depot to unveil the "Nine Cheers for the Silver State" painting and introduce a limited edition collectable .9999 Silver Medallion, expressly created to commemorate and celebrate the occasion with first substantial minting of Comstock Silver since the U.S. Mint in Carson City closed in 1893.

Pure Comstock Silver Nevada Sesquicentennial Medallion!

Each medallion is minted from one troy ounce of pure (.9999) Comstock silver.

The Comstock Silver Medallion features Gold Hill, one of the principal communities of the mining district, capturing the community in the early 1870s. The image includes the Crown Point Trestle, world-renown as a feat of railroad engineering at the time. The medallion’s reverse captures Gold Hill’s Upper Yellow Jacket Hoist and Ore Chute, recently restored by the Comstock Foundation for History & Culture. Each medallion is minted from one troy ounce of pure (.9999) silver. Ron Oden, a Lake Tahoe based artist and graphic designer, developed the images for the medallion. “Ron has captured remarkable features and the beauty and bustle of the Comstock Lode, at its height, providing Nevada with an inspiring design for this historic and uniquely precious, silver medallion,” stated Corrado De Gasperis, CEO of Comstock Mining.

Each medallion comes in a protective acrylic capsule inside a collector-grade case, and includes a certificate of authenticity. Shipped price for this extremely rare commemorative is $100.50 (plus any applicable sales tax). The company is offering a 5% discount for orders of 5 units or more and a 10% discount on orders of 10 or more. Price includes insured shipping in the United States.

10% of the proceeds from the sale of this item will go directly to the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture for historic preservation and restoration projects on the Comstock.

This is your chance to own a genuine piece of the Comstock Lode, one of the most important mining discoveries in American history in both output and significance.

The rarely-seen interior of the Gold Hill Depot was open to the public for a special Nevada Day event. After extensive restorations by Storey County, the Virginia City Tourism Commission, and the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture, the Depot was the location of a grand reception on October 31, celebrating the sesquicentennial of Nevada statehood and the unveiling of “Nine Cheers for the Silver State,” a painting by renowned Nevada artist Steven Saylor. Saylor’s painting takes its title from a headline that appeared in the Gold Hill Daily News on October 31, 1864. Prints of the painting are available for purchase to raise funds for the historic preservation efforts of the Comstock Foundation.

Saylor’s painting takes its title from a headline that appeared in the Gold Hill Daily News on October 31, 1864. Prints of the painting are available for purchase to raise funds for the historic preservation efforts of the Comstock Foundation.

Buy The Print And Receive One Pure Comstock Silver Medallion!

Each medallion is minted from one troy ounce of pure (.9999) Comstock silver.

All copies of the print will include a one ounce silver medallion minted from precious metal from the operation of Comstock Mining Inc. For an additional $400, the print will be framed and include a second medallion so both faces of the medallion can be exhibited.

T

he Comstock Lode is the site of one of the most important mining discoveries in world history, in output and in significance. It was the first major silver discovery in United States history: of the total precious metal retrieved from the Comstock Lode in its first twenty years of “Bonanza” – or booming productivity – roughly 57 percent of its value was in silver, while 42 percent was in gold, but because the value of the silver represented one tenth that of gold, the tonnage of silver produced was much greater.

Grubby prospectors became instant millionaires. Famous men like Mackay, Fair, Flood, and O’Brien made their fortunes in Comstock mining. Soon mansions, imported furniture and fashions from Europe, and the finest in food, drink and entertainment were commonplace. Virginia City quickly rivaled San Francisco in size and excess.

The booming Comstock mines attracted thousands of newcomers, most of whom were supporters of the Union cause during the Civil War. Abraham Lincoln saw in Nevada an opportunity to secure three additional electoral votes in the 1864 presidential election – although the population was ultimately short of the 100,000 required by the U.S. Constitution. In addition, the president hoped that the new state’s congressional delegation would support his program of Reconstruction to reshape the United States and to bring the South back into the national mainstream. Nevada did not disappoint, voting for Lincoln and assisting in the nation’s work to bring itself back together.

Comstock mining engineers made amazing breakthroughs to facilitate the retrieval of gold and silver. New honey-combed, square-set timbers became the industry standard to shore up mine shafts. Water pipes were stretched from the Lake Tahoe Basin to provide over 2 million gallons of fresh mountain water daily. A four mile long tunnel was blasted from solid rock by Adolph Sutro to drain over 10 million gallons of boiling, rancid water per day from the lower levels of the mines. And the Virginia & Truckee Railroad, "the crookedest railroad in the world" due to its dizzying descent of 1,600 feet in 13 miles, soon connected Virginia City to Carson City, Reno and the new transcontinental railroad.

The Comstock Lode yielded tremendous amounts of silver and gold, but the area is still largely unexplored using modern technology and methods. Experts believe significant silver and gold deposits remain undiscovered.

Comstock Mining Inc. is a producing, Nevada-based, gold and silver mining company with extensive, contiguous property in the Comstock District. The Company began acquiring properties in the Comstock District in 2003. Since then, the Company has consolidated a significant portion of the Comstock District, amassed the single largest known repository of historical and current geological data on the Comstock region, secured permits, built an infrastructure and commenced production in 2012. The Company continues acquiring additional properties in the district, expanding its footprint and creating opportunities for further exploration and mining. The near term goal of its business plan is to deliver stockholder value by validating qualified resources (measured and indicated) and reserves (proven and probable) of at least 3,250,000 gold equivalent ounces from its first two resource areas, Lucerne and Dayton, achieve initial commercial mining and processing operations in the Lucerne Mine with annual production rates of approximately 40,000 gold equivalent ounces and significantly grow production through the commercial development and expansions of both the Lucerne and Dayton Mine plans.

Comstock Mining Inc. recently received a permit that is transformational for its growth and will be able to allow the company to expand operations throughout the resource rich Lucerne Area. This permit expands the boundary from 180 acres to 1200 acres and is a critical step for Comstock's next phase of exploration assessment.

The Company has in the past been very efficient and economic with resource expansion building a resource base of over 3.25 million ounces. Now with permit in hand Comstock is more confident investing in the drilling, exploration and development of resource rich Ease Lucerne area.

The approved permit(s) dramatically expand Comstock Mining Inc.'s area of exploration and represents a significant opportunity with real potential for the Company not only to increase its resource base well beyond 3.25 million ounces, but also to be leveraged to build the 'Comstock' brand as an integral part of the Company's strategy to develop increased revenue by expanding its gold and silver exploration and mining operations downstream to include the production, sale, licensing and merchandising of Comstock branded finished gold and silver related products direct to the consumer.

Comstock Mining Inc. is serious about its role to responsibly meet society’s needs for mineral and precious metal in the most socially, economically and environmentally responsible way.

Comstock Mining Inc. believes its opportunity to contribute to and thrive in the economies in which it operates must be earned through a demonstrated commitment to sustainable development.

nlike the small settlements throughout California's Gold Country, Nevada's Comstock Mining District consisted of highly urbanized, industrial cities, which established a model that all future mining developments generally followed. By the early 1870s, the mining district's capital, Virginia City, together with its smaller neighbor, Gold Hill, reached a population of nearly 25,000, becoming one of the nation's more substantial communities. Virginia City was decimated by the Great Fire of October 25, 1875, which swept through the city and left nearly 10,000 homeless, but residents were quick to rebuild in the booming economy, the time of “Big Bonanza.”

The Comstock Foundation for History and Culture is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that encourages the preservation and promotion of historic and cultural resources within the Virginia City National Historic Landmark District, which embraces the state-designated Comstock Historic District.

In 2010, Comstock Mining Inc. began to conceive of an innovative approach to dealing with the collapsing historic resources of the National Historic Landmark.

The Company committed to donating 1 percent of its bullion from the Lucerne Pit in Storey County to preservation efforts. After careful planning, the leadership of Comstock Mining concluded that there needed to be a private non-profit organization that would use those funds to help save the most endangered historic resources of the district.

Help us preserve our endangered historic resources

Thank you for supporting the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture

The Comstock Foundation has achieved a great deal since its establishment in 2013. The Comstock Foundation restored the Upper Yellow Jacket Hoist and Ore Chute, it has helped with restoration projects at the Historic Fourth Ward School Museum, St. Mary's Arts and Retreat Center, and the Gold Hill Depot, and hosted fundraisers that assisted nine non-profit organizations including the Comstock Cemetery Foundation, the Silver State National Peace Officers Museum, and the Comstock Firemen’s Museum. And this is only the beginning of Comstock Foundation projects that are saving resources and making a difference.

In January 2015, the Comstock Foundation will have completed the acquisition of the sprawling Donovan Mill complex in Silver City. This was the site of a transition in ore milling techniques. Originally constructed for mercury-based processing, this mill became one of the first locations in the world to test the zinc-cyanide method, now used internationally for the extraction of gold and silver from ore. The mill exhibits an amazing degree of preservation, but it is vulnerable and could easily be lost if efforts are not made soon to save the structure from collapse. The ambitious work to save the Donovan Mill and interpret it as an internationally-significant place in the history of technology will require funding from diverse sources. The Comstock Foundation seeks donations to assist in this important project.

Past and Present Projects

Comstock Foundation for History and Culture

The Mandate of the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture

The Comstock Foundation for History and Culture encourages the preservation and promotion of historic and cultural resourceswithin the Comstock Historic District also known as the Virginia City National Historic Landmark District. Such purposes, either through direct activity or the awarding of grants, include but are not limited to:

(a) The acquisition, restoration, and/or preservation and maintenance of historic structures and objects;

(b) The excavation of historic sites directed by archaeologists with permits granted by the state and/or federal government;

(c) The promotion of community outreach including but not limited to the advocacy and celebration of festivals, exhibits, lectures, and other programs, and for the support of publications associated with the history of the Comstock Historic District and Western mining;

(d) Outreach to property owners within the Comstock Historic District to encourage preservation of historic resources and to advise on preservation issues;

(e) Solicitation, acceptance and receipt of moneys, legacies, gifts, grants, contributions, endowments, property in kind, real or personal, and thereafter to hold, invest, re-invest and manage the same, and utilize the income or principal in such amounts and at such times as the Board of Directors of the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture shall determine, exclusively for charitable purposes as described in Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”);

(f) Engagement in any other lawful activity for which a corporation may be formed under the Law, as the same may be amended from time to time, which is necessary or convenient to effect, or which is conducive to the attainment of, the foregoing purposes.

Gold Hill Hotel

Located just a mile from Virginia City on the Historic Comstock Lode, the Gold Hill Hotel, first opened in 1861, is Nevada's oldest hotel. Our saloon is a pure Wild West treat and The Crown Point Restaurant is noted throughout Nevada for fresh, robust and flavorful fare. This Nevada Ghost Town is a fascinating destination and a perfect addition to any trip to Reno, Lake Tahoe or Virginia City. The Gold Hill Hotel is owned by Comstock Mining Inc.

Upper Yellow Jacket Hoist Work

The Upper Yellow Jacket Hoist would not have survived the winter winds without the restoration effort of the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture.

The photo to the left is what the Upper Yellow Jacket Hoist looked like in August 2013. The fact that it remained standing proves that the law of gravity is sometimes suspended on the Comstock. The fact that we could save it proves that while we should have known better than to try, it's good that we didn't know better.

St. Mary's Art Center

The Art Center in the old St. Mary's Hospital has done great work since the 1960s and deserves community support.

St. Mary’s Art Center and Retreat is one of nine Comstock organizations that was the focus of a fundraising reception on April 4, 2014 at the Gold Hill Hotel. The Art Center has enormous construction needs. The Comstock Foundation has been providing assistance with the demolition of rooms filled with twentieth-century construction. This will make spaces available for subsequent use.

Fourth Ward School

The Historic Fourth Ward School Museum Foundation has won national awards for its excellence, but the old building, opened in 1877, continues to need help.

The Historic Fourth Ward School Museum and Archive is one of nine Comstock organizations that was the focus of a fundraising reception on April 4, 2014 at the Gold Hill Hotel. The Fourth Ward is an enormous building with constant maintenance needs. Recently, the Comstock Foundation installed improved insulation for its doors, in an effort to conserve heating costs. Although the project cost several thousand dollars, it paid off at the end of winter this year, and it will help in years to come. And there is less dust!

Piper's Opera House

The Comstock Foundation is raising funds for several organizations including Piper's Opera House, a national treasure.

This photo of Piper's Opera House is courtesy of the Comstock Historic District Commission and its Walt Mulchay collection dating to the 1930s and the 1940s. Thanks to a lot of work, Piper's looks better than this, but much more needs to be done.

Gold Hill Depot

The Gold Hill Depot has benefited from years of restoration efforts that have saved the structure for future use.

Now, the goal is to transform the large hall of the building into a venue for all sorts of public activities. With a capacity of roughly 200, the Depot represents a much-needed facility, but certain changes need to occur. Doors and other aspects of the structure must comply with safety standards and the south wall needs to be sealed. The challenge will be protecting extensive graffiti from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Storey County and the Virginia City Tourism Commission has engaged a preservation architect to direct careful work, and the Comstock Foundation stands ready to assist with the effort.

Comstock Firemen's Museum

The Comstock Firemen's Museum benefited from the fundraising efforts of the Comstock Foundation on April 4.

The organization tends to an important territorial-era building and a remarkable collection of fire-fighting memorabilia. It is important to support these sorts of organizations. Recently, the organization rebuilt the porch that once adorned the front of the building.

The Comstock Foundation raised funds for both the Comstock Cemetery Foundation and for the Silver City Cemetery Committee.

Dayton Historical Society

The Dayton Historical Society is one of the organizations that was the subject of fundraising during the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture reception on April 4.

This image of the entrance to the Sutro Tunnel, near Dayton, captures the place in the 1930s, thanks to the collection at the Comstock Historic District Commission. The tunnel was started in 1869, completed in 1878, extends roughly 3.5 miles, and still passively drains Comstock mines at the 1,600-foot level.

Visit the historic and scenic Comstock National Historic District - Virginia City National Historic Landmark

The Virginia City Historic District includes the populated settlements of Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City and Dayton, as well as open land dotted with historic and archeological features associated with mining activities. The district includes roughly 500 historic structures and covers 14,750 acres.

Explore the Comstock Lode, Virginia City, Gold Hill, Silver City and Dayton, tour the operations of Comstock Mining Inc., and visit the communities that have produced what is in today’s terms billions of dollars in gold and silver.

The Comstock with its remarkable mines helped make Nevada a state 150 years ago, and the mining district survives today as an important place where visitors can enjoy the past. Please contribute to the Comstock Foundation for History and Culture's effort to preserve our shared Landmark. Donations would be great, but at the very least, take a trip to Comstock, stay at the Gold Hill Hotel, have a fine meal, and visit the various museums and organizations that are doing so much to make the historic district an enjoyable destination in your own backyard.

Located just a mile from Virginia City on the Historic Comstock Lode, the Gold Hill Hotel, first opened in 1861, is Nevada's oldest operating hotel. Its saloon is a pure Wild West treat and the Crown Point Restaurant is noted throughout Nevada for fresh, robust and flavorful fare. This Nevada Ghost Town is a fascinating destination and a perfect addition to any trip to Reno, Lake Tahoe or Virginia City.